And it’s so fuching nice to see “the mule” poke-evolve into “the mother-fuching angry mule”
Because they are 2 completly different beasts, omfg…

Did anyone else notice the “turn around” came when the team just gave the crap up for the defensive side of the game, and just charged on headbutting the offense?
I think the so called “defensive mindset” babcock tried to push so hard early on the season might actually be holding the team back pretty hard

Posted by
Zqto
from Brazil on 04/05/12 at 12:53 AM ET

looked like they benched kindl after that second goal. deservedly, i’d add…

played solid in periods 1 and 2. Still too many turnovers and dumb passing. 3rd period saw turnovers turned to goals. Finally we saw players getting their legs back and broke out of their shells. Still lots of room to ratchet it up. We need to go lights out these last 2 games. Nashville aint going away. Took the Mule to get pissed to actually fight back and become the power forward we all know and love. Pavel has it back too as well. I’d like to see Kindl sat tomorrow and get Brendan Smith in the lineup if we could. And I sure hope Stewie is ok. Game On.

Posted by
NIVO
from underpants gnome village on 04/05/12 at 01:13 AM ET

Datsyuk cranked it up in the 3rd period. Z has been great for the past month, even during the shit streak.

They got damned lucky but…when it most mattered they came alive. Jimmy is rust free, and praise be to baby jesus didn’t look like anything was nagging (please oh please oh please of please be 100% healthy, Jimmy’s Dong….I’ll sacrifice the neighbor’s two cats in Jimmy’s Dong’s honor)...keep it cranked to 11…or better yet…12.

Posted by
mrfluffy
from A wide spot on I-90 in Montana on 04/05/12 at 01:16 AM ET

Anyone impressed with Ericsson since coming off of IR?

Posted by
mrfluffy
from A wide spot on I-90 in Montana on 04/05/12 at 01:17 AM ET

Ericsson looks as if he’d been swapped with a different guy. He’s been stellar so far.

looked like they benched kindl after that second goal. deservedly, i’d add…

Posted by Chet from twitter: thegansen on 04/04/12 at 11:01 PM ET

It’s true, Kindl screwed the pooch so hard the damn thing’s probably still yelping somewhere. Ericsson meanwhile has been very steady of late, but of course being paired with Lidstrom the past few games hasn’t hurt his cause.

Pavel Datsyuk did things with the puck in the offensive zone tonight that simply defy the laws of physics. When he’s feeling it like he was in the third period, there’s almost nothing the other team can do about it. That was obscene. In a beautiful way of course.

Well, look who showed up? Franzen decided he’d had enough of playing like a horse’s ass for the better part of a year and a half. Good on him. He damn sure should’ve been one of the 3 shooters…he wanted the puck on his stick. I want to punch Babbles, and Hudler, every time I see that soft elf skate out for a shootout attempt. As a professional hockey coach shouldn’t Babcock be able to see that Hudler’s go-to move (shooting the puck DIRECTLY at the goaltender’s pads) isn’t particularly effective?

My amateur 2 cents (or five):
1. This team can still beat anyone in 7 games. Win in St. Louis, win in Vancouver, PIttsburgh, Boston, Chicago. 1 goal loss in Philly and OT loss in NY short handed. If they’re going to peak, it’d be nice to start building up now.
2. Maybe Ericsson just needed a break to step back to re-group. I don’t know if I’m more pleasantly surprised by Ericsson at this point or Hudler (knowing each of their limitations).
3. I’d still rather have the Wings focus on D, but I know what you mean about maybe being too defensive-minded (although in the playoffs, it never seems that you can have too much D?). I still hearken back to the comeback against Washington from the 2nd modern era Cup win (with the Draper winner) as the ID of the team: they can always absolutely pour on the Offense if needed (although never want to be in that situation in the first place: it seems like the 3rd periods seem to be their best periods often for some reason,....).
4. Anytime I think head equals pinball, that’s never a good sign (i.e., Stewart).
5. Please have the playoff “Mule” stay around now. Pretty please.
6. I still cringe about playing Nashville first round, home ice or not. I would least like to play Philly or San Jose still (I’m still thinking they’re going to have the most trouble against big physical teams in 7), then St. Louis or Vancouver. For whatever reason, I’m not worried as much about facing any other team (including the Rangers, Blackhawks, Bruins, Penguins, etc.).
7. The more I watch Datsyuk, the more I think Barry Sanders (only better?). It will be a sad day when he retires. I’m already mourning.
8. I hope Cleary wasn’t just using his arms to keep the pressure off of his knees in that interview. Couldn’t he have just sat??
9. Someone do something different on the power play, anything. Fake the blue line slapshot more, alter the formation, just do something else.
10. Ya think Bertuzzi might get more play about his shootout #‘s and overall re-emergence as a Red Wing if it wasn’t for his past? Sometimes, I just want a shootout to see what Pavel and Todd pull out of their hats.
11. Paul, you’re getting hate emails for that? Seriously?
12. They lose Lidstrom, they’re in big trouble. They lose Datsyuk, they’re in big trouble. They lose Howard, don’t even bother. They want the cup, they need those 3 to be relatively injury free (obvious, I know—especially after seeing each of them out).
13. George, get well.

Posted by
Bugsy
on 04/05/12 at 02:05 AM ET

as to point 13, +19.

it would be great if the wings coaching decided to figure out the PP sometime in the next two games. Fuch sakes already! Baby Jeebus and Jobu are both screaming about this.

Somebody needs to defend Kindl a little (so it might as well be me). The first goal I shall put on Fil. Standard dop pass on entry; it wasn’t perfect but Fil should have handled it. He didn’t and it karomed right to Peron, and ain’t no one gonna beat that guy in a sprint after that.

Some random thoughts from last night while I wait on the caffeine to kick in this morning.

Go Mule.

Kindl sucks.

Holy crap Jimmah.

Datsyuk is just inhuman.

Babcock needs to start cracking some heads.

Nyquist needs to spend more time with Pav….maybe send him and Helm to spend the summer in Russia?

Posted by
42jeff
from The greater Howard City, MI metroplex on 04/05/12 at 10:07 AM ET

Kindle just worked his way out of the running for the 6th Dman for the playoffs. Looks like it’s down to Smith and Quincey.
I’m not sure what Babcock was expecting of Kindle. He started the season strong, completely fell apart before he got hurt, came back from injury pretty strong and BLAMMO! Kindle, I think, will be a good Dman but he’s not right now. I hope to heckfire Babs does NOT play him anymore this year.

Posted by
Vladimir16
from Grand River Valley on 04/05/12 at 10:30 AM ET

Well, I will never, never, never watch a game on NBCSucks again. I listened to Ken and Paul on radio, so since the Wings won, I am sticking to radio from now on.

I could barely listen to Ditz, Oilslick and Pee-Air on the highlight videos!

WAY TO GO WINGS !!!!!

Posted by
MsRedWinger
from the State where Tigers roam in the Spring on 04/05/12 at 10:46 AM ET

turned this game on with only 13 minutes or so left in the game and the score was 0-0. Then the wings get the 5 minute pp, and watch the blues eventually lead 2-0, and i am thinking, can anyone beat the blues in a 7 game series?

I was surprised to see the wings came back. maybe the wings could beat the blues but they are going to be a real hard team to play. That arena sounded like a college football game.

maybe the wings could beat the blues but they are going to be a real hard team to play. That arena sounded like a college football game.

If the Blues get the Sharks first round—a strong possibility at this point—, they might not be there for the Wings. As dysfunctional as the Sharks have been, they are playoff tested, and might have the world’s best playoff power play.

Hudler should be banned from shoot outs, although that is quickly becoming a non-issue in my short sighted mind.

Cleary is not clicking right now. Not at all. Not sure what he needs. Wheaties?

To see them come back from the cellars in the 3rd period against a formidable Blues team is very heartening. Really, Pavel summoned some ungodly mojo. They played physical and it will be an ever-increasing necessity over the next few weeks and beyond.

The Blues are a good team that bought into Hitch’s system, and given the way the NHL is calling games…the Blues’ style works. That said….it was a back and forth war of attrition, and I agree, once the Blues went up 1-0 I thought it was over, and I laughed when it went 2-0…but once Franzen scored that first goal…the Blues just turtled.

THAT was the most surprising part. The Wings, the Sharks, the Nucks, and probably even the Preds could take them in the first round if they implode that quickly.

Posted by
mrfluffy
from A wide spot on I-90 in Montana on 04/05/12 at 12:43 PM ET

Somebody needs to defend Kindl a little (so it might as well be me).

I’ll help a little. There’s no doubt he had a pretty terrible game last nite. But most of those turnovers were on passes that, while not perfect, were the kind of thing that still get picked up by NHL level players on a routine basis. At the very least chipped somewhere safe-ish. Passes were getting missed all over most of last nite, not just from Kindl.

Kindle telegraphed that drop pass, and $hi+ the bed on the second goal. Not really any room to defend.

That’s how the Wings have run their PP entry all bloody season, and it drives me crazy. It was novel the first game or two, but it quickly became the only play. It’s really easy to defend when everyone knows it’s coming.

Kindl has mostly been good this year, but he’s had some really rough games here and there. Rookie inconsistency. E52 has had more consistency problems in his 3rd and 4th years, and has only recently been displaying solid play. I feel like they’ve made Ericsson the safe guy on his pair rather than the break-out man, which is fine by me as he’s much better without the puck.

At this point I’m far more irritated with Quincey who is a seasoned veteran with top pairing experience playing like a moron frequently running himself out of position.

I still want to know what Backes did to Franzen first… all I heard was Pierre bitching about how there should have been a call and looking at that replay again, all you see is Franzen coast by one second, presumably heading to the locker room and then they cut to him punching Backes. Clearly Backes did something to provoke it and NBC just pretended that wasn’t the case because they obviously didn’t have a shot of it. Was anyone there? What led up to that?

I love that Franzen did that to David “right on the numbers” Backes. That guy is one seriously dirty hitter.
But…and c’mon, someone has to say it…seriously, what kind of bush league do they want this to be? Is no call really the right choice here? (2 each would pay some lip service to respectability, right?)
I don’t really care on this one, cause fvck Backes, and its not like the completely random rulebook is a new thing, but jeebus…..
At least they’re not sending mixed signals.
Anyway, I do love it. And I do think they all play better when they sharpen the edge and get the old blood moving. Mule especially.

Posted by
tuxedoTshirt
from the Home of the 1937 World Champions on 04/05/12 at 07:10 PM ET

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The Malik Report is a destination for all things Red Wings-related. I offer biased, perhaps unprofessional-at-times and verbose coverage of my favorite team, their prospects and developmental affiliates. I've joined the Kukla's Korner family with five years of blogging under my belt, and I hope you'll find almost everything you need to follow your Red Wings at a place where all opinions are created equal and we're all friends, talking about hockey and the team we love to follow.